Thermometer bracket



a- 1939- E. F. SCHWELLER THERMOMETER BRACKET Y Filed Oct. 26', 1936 '2 Sheets-Sheet 1 i INVENTOR. Ea m/o. F: sum-1.1..

HIS

. ATTORNEY 5.

, Patented Aug. 15;]939

UNITED STATES 2,169.90; 'rnsmuoma'rm BRACKET 'EdmundF. Schweller, ayton, Ohio; assignor to General Motors Corporation, Dayton, hio,.a

corporation of Delaware Application October 26, 1936, Serial No. 107,653

' 2 Claims. (Cl. 73-343) The present invention relates to refrigerator cabinets and particularly to an arrangement 'of means for indicating temperatures existing within such cabinets.

5 I am aware of the fact that refrigerator cabinets have, in the past, been equipp d with means to indicate the temperature of acompartment within the cabinet but such means have heretofo-re. either been constructed in an insulated wall 0 of the cabinet, with provisions foryiewing the means from the exterior thereof, or positione within the food storage compartment of the cabi-' netin such a postion that it occupied a portion thereof adapted to receive articles to be stored therein, or the indicating-means has beenmounted on a cooling element or evaporator of a refrigerating system positioned in the compartment. It is very difficult to seal or insulate the means which permits a thermometer, constructed in an insulated wall of the cabinet, to be viewed from the exterior of the cabinet and the cost of such a structure is prohibitive. When a thermometer is placed in a food compartment of a refrigerator along the wall of a compartment or in a position adapted to be occupied by articlesto be stored in the compartment it is likely to be broken during the transference of food to and from the compartment. Thermometers mounted on a cooling element positioned in a food storage compartment of a refrigerator cabinet will not indicate the truetemperature of air circulating within the compartment due to its being'afiected by the low temperature of thecooling element. Thus it is apparent that these former provisions of temi5 perature indicating means for food compart ments of refrigerator cabinets have either been too expensive to produce or have not been entirely satisfactory. My invention is directed to overcoming difficulties encountered in the production o and use of these prior temperature indicating means;

An object of the present invention is to propartment thereof in a conspicuous but out of the way position .so that the same will not interfere with the transference of objects to and from the food compartment.

0 Another object of the invention isto mount a thermometertwithin the food storage compartment of a refrigerator cabinet in a position whereby a thermometer will not occupy a portion 5 port articles to be stored therein.

vance of the cabinet.

vide a refrigerator'cabinet with a thermometer. for indicating the temperature therein and to 5 mount the thermometer in a food storage com-= of the compartment-adapted to receive and sup- A further object of the inventionis to provide an improved means for mounting a thermometer on a food supporting shelf of a food storage compartment of a refrigerator cabinet which means isornamental and thereby improves the appear- In carrying out the foregoing objects it is a still further and more specific object of the present invention to provide a bracket for mounting a thermometer along the front edge of a shelf of m a food storage shelf of a refrigerator cabinet which bracket cooperates with the shelf to maintain the thermometer in a predetermined fixed position so as to be conspicuous when the food compartment accessdoor is open. 15 Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent-from the following description, reference'being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred form'of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings: 4 Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of a'refrigerator cabinet having foodstorage chamber pro vided with a food supporting shelf and a thermometer mounted thereon in accordance with 26 the present invention; 1 Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective fragmentary view looking from the front downwardly upon the upper surface of a shelf and the mounting bracket'for the thermometer; 4 Fig.'3'is -a fragmentaryplan view of the front edge of the shelf showing an inwardly offset portion thereof; Fig.4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig 2 and illustrating the attach- 85 ment of an end portion of the thermometer mounting'bracket to the shelf; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2 showing the attachment, of a central portion, of the bracket to the shelf 40 and the mounting of a thermometer in the bracket.

Referring to the drawings, for the purpose of illustrating my invention, I have shown in Fig. 1 thereof ,a. refrigerator cabinet of the household .4 type genera ly represented by the reference character to. Cabinet l0 includes a plurality of insulated walls .H preferably covered by a metal shell or a plurality of-metallic panels. The walls It surround and enclose a metallic liner member l2 oil which formswalls of a food storage chamber '16- within cabinet It]. Any desirable or conventional cooling element or evaporator I 5 of a mechanical refrigerating system is preferably. mounted within the. food storage chamber It by being suspendingly supported from the top wall disposed reticulated shelves within chamber l4.

The shelves may be supported in any suitable or conventional manner within chamber H such,

for example, as by shelf supports secured to the vertical side wall portions of the metallic chamber liner l2.

The shelves shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings are of similar construction but it will be noted by referring to Fig. 2 of the drawings that one of the shelves i8 comprises a rather heavy round wire rim member 2| which forms the peripheral edges of the shelf and is adapted to have portions thereof engaged by a shelf support. A plurality of small round wires 22 are spaced apart a predetermineddistance and extend parallel to one another from the front to the rear of the rim member 2|. It will be noted that the wires 22 are all disposed on the same horizontal plan and provide the shelf 8 with a flat food supporting surface. The ends of wires 22 are preferably welded or otherwise secured to the top surface of rim. member 2|. The reticulated shelf 1 l3 has a portion of its front edge or rim member 2| offset or bent inwardly as at 23 relative to other front edge portions 24 thereof (seeFig. 3). This offset portion 23 of shelf l8 provides'a space within chamber l2 adjacent and along the inner wall of door i5.

A thermometer mounting generally-represented be presently described. Bracket 25 includesa substantially flat horizbntal top part 25 and a substan lly flat verticallfront part 29 which parts f0 to. tends into or over a portion of both substantially flat parts of the mounting bracket member 25. There are a pluralityof rib-like portions 3| raised in the face parts 28 and 29 of member 25 and the plating of these portions 3| is highly polished relative .to the finish of the remainder ,of the bracket and. serve to increase the ornamental character of the mounting bracket. The end portions of the front face 29 of member 25 are bent inwardly as at'fl- (see Fig. 4)'to provide legs adapted to engage the front portion 24 of the rim 2| of shelf. l8. Arentrally located portion 33 (see Figs. 4 and 5) extending beyond the back edge of the top face 28 of.member 25 adjacent the central raised decorativeribs 3| therein is;

, bent downwardly as at '34 and inwardly as at 35 "the .L-shaped structure above referred Thus it will be noted that opening '25 ex-' by the extended portions of member 25 are bent portion 32 thereof, is extended or bent inwardly as at 35 (see Figs. 4 and 5) to provide a ledge adapted to supportfwith the cooperation of the shelf rim, 9. temperature indicating device or. thermometer generally represented by the reference character 33 This thermometer 38 may be of any suitable or conventional construction and it will be noted by referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings that the thermometer 33 is positioned adjacent the inner wall surface of the refrigerator cabinet door ii at the front of chamber l4 so as to be in a readily accessible position for reading the temperature indicated thereby when door I3 is open.

The construction of the thermometer, generally-indicated by the numeral 38, in the present disclosure includes a glass tube 4| which is oval shaped in cross section and has metal cap members-42 securedto the ends thereof. A suitable sealing washer 43 may be located between the metal caps 42 and the glass tube. The tube 4| and closure caps 42 form a chamber or housing having a flat plate 44 positioned therein and which plate is graduated in any suitable manner. A small glass tube 45 having mercury or other suitable fluid sealed therein is stationarlly attached to plate 44 by a pair of clips 48. The mercury within tube 45 is adapted to cooperate with and move relative to the graduations on plate 44 in response to temperature changes for indicating the temperature existing within the food storage chamber l4. By mounting the tube 45 within the sealed chamber or housing, formed by the glass .tube 4| and end cap members 42, the thermometer is prevented from being directly exposed to air within the room in which the refrigerator cabinet II is located at the time door it is opened. Thus the thermometer will maintain the-true temperatureof the food storage chamber I4 for a considerable length oftime after door l5 has been opened.

The elements forming the thermometer 38 are constructed and arranged to cooperate with the bracket 25 andalso with the rim 2| of shelf I8. to maintain the thermometer 35 in a predetermined position withln the mounting bracket 25. It is to be noted by reference to Figs. 4 and 5 of the. drawings that'the ledge 35 formed on bracket 25 is of the same general contour as the thermometer 33 and thatit supports same with the glass tubeportion 4| thereof in abutting relationship with the edge portion 21 of 'opening 26 in bracket 25. An upper portion of thermometer 33 is adapted to be located in abutting relationship with-the inwardly bent or offset portion 23 of rim 2| of shelf II to prevent turning of the thermometer within the mounting bracket. The end cap members of the element 38 may be arranged to abut the connecting leg portion of theuinwardly bent or offset 'part 23 which connects part 23 with part 24 of the rim 2| of shelf II to thus prevent horizontal movement'of the thermometer 33 within the mounting bracket provided an improved mounting of a temperature indicating means wi the food storage chamber of a refrigerator ca lnet. By providing for the support of a thermometer as disclosed it is obvious that the thermometer is'--dlsp0sed I within the space .formed by the inwardly directed edge portion of the food supporting shelf character and provides a shield forthe, thermometer for protecting same against breakage during the act of rearranging of food products in the refrigerator chamber or during the act 7 of moving the products into or from the cabinet. While the form of embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed. constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted. all coming within the scope. of the claims which'follow:

What is claimed is asfollows:

1. In combination with a barhaving a U-' shaped portion formed therein, a bracket associated with said bar and having a part thereof constructed and arranged to receive and support a thermometer within the space formed by said 'U-shaped portion of the bar, said bracket including an extended part attached'to the yoke intermediate the legs of the 'U-shaped portion of said bar and at least one other extended part embracing said bar beyond a leg of the U-shaped portion thereof, said bracket also having other .extended parts which cooperate to secure the thermometer within the space formed by the U- shaped portion of said bar with the legs of the U- shaped. portion limiting longitudinal movement of the thermometer. v

2. In combination with a bar providing one edge of a shelf adapted to be disposed in a food storage compartment of a refrigerator cabinet and having a U-shaped portion formed therein,

' a bracket'associated with said bar and having a part thereof constructed and arranged to receive and support a thermometer within the space formed by said U shaped portion of the bar, said bracket including an extended part attached to the yoke intermediate the legs of the U-shaped' portion of said bar and two other extended parts one of which embraces said bar beyond one leg of the U-shaped portion thereof and the other of said two other parts of said bracket emcure the thermometer within the space formed by the U-shaped portion of said bar with the legs of the 'U-shaped portion limiting longitudinal movement of the thermometer. 

